It is often useful for a vehicle to have knowledge of whether it is towing a trailer, for example to enable the vehicle to compensate for the presence of the trailer during automated manoeuvres such as obstacle detection and avoidance, or assisted parking. Typically a driver of the vehicle has to indicate the presence of a trailer manually.
Automated methods may also be used.
For example, the presence of a trailer can be detected using a body control module (BCM) of the vehicle to apply a voltage to an electrical connection point to which a trailer may be attached and then measure the level of electrical power drawn from the connection. If the power drawn from the connection point exceeds a predetermined threshold, this is taken as indicative of the presence of a trailer. However, this method is not entirely reliable for various reasons.
For example other types of rear-mounted equipment may be connected to the electrical connection point, such as a bike rack or a tailgate carrier such that the BCM may incorrectly determine that a trailer is present. Furthermore the BCM approach may not detect the presence of a trailer supplied with low-power LED lights, which may not draw sufficient electrical power to exceed the pre-determined threshold. It is also possible that a trailer may not be detected using the BCM approach if it is attached to the vehicle but is not properly connected to the electrical connection point, either through user error or due to an electrical fault.
While it may be possible to allow a driver of the vehicle to indicate that a trailer is coupled to the vehicle manually through an infotainment system, for example, this cannot be relied on for the purposes of compensating for the presence of a trailer in automated vehicle manoeuvres as the driver may forget to input the required information, or may enter information inaccurately.
The present invention has been devised to mitigate or overcome at least some of the above-mentioned problems.